Volunteer Your Time

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Donating time, food or money to River City Food Bank is one of the best ways to offer health and hope to the Sacramento community. Because of our partnerships, food donations and low administrative expenses, your donation directly serves more than 5,000 men, women and children experiencing hunger each week.

Help us serve more than 2.5 million meals per year! In 2023, River City Food Bank volunteers dedicated more than 29,806 hours to sort, organize, and distribute grocery food items, help with client intake, computer data entry and support administrative activities and education. 

There’s a role for everyone!

Masks are highly encouraged, but not required.

Saturday shifts are no longer available

Existing Volunteers

Volunteer Orientation

Volunteers are a key part of River City Food Bank’s food distribution at both sites. Check out our Volunteer Orientation below to learn more about the organization, volunteer roles, and opportunities at each location. 

New volunteers are required to watch this orientation prior to signing up for a volunteer shift. If there are any questions about the orientation or the volunteer program, please reach out to the Volunteer Coordinator. 

River City Food Bank is dependent on individuals who want to serve their neighbors in need. We simple cannot do what we do without the help and support of any individuals! Individuals may volunteer one time only or on an ongoing basis. Here are some of our requirements for volunteering:

Youth: Volunteers must be 15 years or older to volunteer independently. Volunteers ages 10-14 must be supervised by an adult. We cannot accommodate children younger than 10 years old at this time. 

Physical: A typical volunteer shift requires volunteers to stand for at least 2 hours. While not required, volunteers may be asked to lift, push, or pull 20+ pounds. Please notify staff of any physical restrictions and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Court-mandated: We are in partnership of the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department’s Alternative Sentencing Program. If you have court-appointed community service hours to complete, please make sure to notify us when you sign up for a volunteer shift. If two scheduled shifts are missed, your service will be terminated. 

COVID-19: Masks are no longer required indoors for all staff and volunteers; however they are highly encouraged. If you would like a mask, one can be provided to you. We also provide gloves, disinfectants and hand sanitizer–your safety is of the utmost importance to us!

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Operations Director, Tyra Willis at .

With two locations and a variety of shifts available, we have plenty to offer organizations looking to give back to the community. Volunteering at River City Food Bank provides groups the opportunity to work together towards and common goal and have an immediate, positive impact on someone’s day.

At this time, our Midtown location can accommodate groups of 5 people or less and our Arden-Arcade location can accommodate groups of 10 or less. We consider groups to be 3 people or more. Masks are no longer required indoors for all staff and volunteers; however they are highly encouraged.

If you are interested in scheduling a group opportunity please click the Group Requests form above and complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

All volunteers are required to make a volunteer profile on our website, or by clicking here. Once you’ve created a profile, you can choose any of the shifts that work for your schedule. As a reminder, we have multiple shifts per day. Read the shift descriptions and view our volunteer schedule here.  

If you’d like more information on how to sign-up for volunteer shifts, see this video 

Yes! We encourage volunteers to sign up for shifts in advance so they can ensure their volunteer spot. To sign up for multiple shifts at once view the open volunteer opportunities, click all the dates you’d like, and confirm by clicking the “Register” button.  

You can also sign up for multiple shifts per day if you’d like to volunteer for the entire day. 

You can cancel your shift through your confirmation email, on your volunteer profile, or by contacting the Volunteer Coordinator. 

Masks are no longer required indoors for all staff and volunteers; however they are highly encouraged. We are following state and local guidelines.  If you would like a mask, one can be provided to you.

A typical volunteer shift requires volunteers to stand for at least 2 hours. While not required, volunteers may be asked to lift, push, or pull 20+ pounds. Please notify staff of any physical restrictions and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Youth volunteers aged 10-14 must be accompanied by an adult during a volunteer shift. Volunteers aged 15 and up are welcome to come on their own. Unfortunately, we are unable to host those under the age of 10 due to safety concerns.  

All volunteers, including kids, need to have a volunteer profile to sign up for shifts. Please see “How can I add a volunteer to my profile?” for more information.  

In your volunteer profile, you can click “Add an Additional Volunteer to My Profile” under the Profile Management section.  

Additional volunteers can be family members, or even friends. You should only add volunteers to your profile if you plan to sign them up for shifts, and they will be connected to your email address and password login.

Yes! Please check out this short volunteer orientation video:

There is also a required Civil Rights Training for each volunteer to complete once a year. You can complete this through your profile or fill out a paper version during your first volunteer shift.  

We are in partnership with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department’s Alternative Sentencing Program. If you have court-appointed community service hours to complete, please make sure to notify us when you sign up for a volunteer shift. If two scheduled shifts are missed, your service will be terminated.

CERVIS has a number of how-to videos on its YouTube page. You can find answers to things like registering for events, printing volunteer history, using the sign-in console, and more! 

 

Thank you for helping us provide health and hope to our neighbors in need!

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This is an equal opportunity institution.